SYNOPSIS
Session I: The What, Why and How of Patents — A primer for young engineers
You have just come up with what you believe to be the next blockbuster invention. So what’s next? Any invention that is not patented is considered to be a gift to society, meaning that everyone is free to use the invention without any obligation towards you. Do you want this to happen, especially after spending all that valuable time, effort and money in the process of creating such an invention? In this talk, the speaker will guide the participants through what exactly is a patent, what is patentable and what is not, why patent the invention and how to do it. He will be sharing practical pointers on things that need to be described in a patent application so that the patent, once granted, will be a powerful asset to prevent others from copying the invention. He will also be discussing the provisions on the patent rights in different countries namely, Malaysia, Europe, US and Japan to give an overall picture of how patent rights may be different from one country to another.

Session II: Using Technical Info in Patent Databases — Effective Ways to Solve Technical Challenges
Engineers conduct research all the time to invent something to solve problems they face everyday. But do you know whether that problem has already been resolved by others or if that solution has already been patented by others? What if your solution is actually better than the third party solution? The question is – how do you find out? The answer: Patent databases. So what exactly is a patent database? Patent databases contain confidential information about
the latest technologies which may ultimately change the world. This talk touches on the use of patent databases as a source of information to solve technical challenges. The speaker will guide participants on the types of patent databases available, the information that can be obtained and the use of the databases. The speaker will also look at how big corporations rely on patent databases in enhancing their R&D capabilities.

BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Mr. Ramakrishna Damodharan is currently the Director of  Patents Division at KASS International Sdn Bhd. He graduated with B.Sc.(Hons) Applied Chemistry, University of  Malaya. He also did his B. Juris. (Hons), University of Malaya. He has been a Patent Attorney for the past 10 years, practicing in the area of Intellectual Property Law, particularly in patent, copyright, design and trademark since 2000. He also involved in drafting and prosecution of patent applications since 2000.

Mr. Toong Jo-Han has been involved in the field of Intellectual Property (IP) for more than six years, having worked in two other IP firms in Malaysia before joining KASS International Sdn Bhd. He began with drafting patent specifications and then expanding into Examination responses, preparing technical analyses, and even patent prosecution matters. With a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering (Swinburne University of Technology), he specializes in Mechanical as well as Electrical inventions, but has also drafted numerous patents in other fields such as Agriculture, Information Technology, and Software for local and for and foreign clients. Prior to the entering the field of IP, he studied and worked in Melbourne, Australia for 7 years, which included a stint with a well-known Australian manufacturing firm as part of an Industry Based Learning Program. Mr. Jo-Han has attended several patent drafting courses including Karl Rackett’s patent drafting course in 2008 and Gwylin Roberts’ talk on patent drafting in 2007. He sat for and passed the local Patent Agent’s Examination in 2009.